Main menu

Volvo to attempt more speed records with Mean Green hybrid truck

March 28, 2012

Some 2,100 hp. A shade less than 5,000 lb-ft of torque. Clearly, the Swedes are not about half measures. They're also, of course, an environmentally sensitive lot, which is why 10 percent of the Mean Green Volvo semi-tractor's pony count and nearly 17 percent of its twist is generated via an electric motor.

Boije Ovebrink has been knocking down records and pulling off hoontastic displays of speed in the truck across the pond, but this year, the Swedish truck maker--only its former car division is owned by the Chinese--brought the frighteningly fast behemoth stateside. After an appearance at the Mid-America Truck Show, Volvo is planning to send Mean Green out to Wendover, Utah.

Depending on one's area of interest, Wendover generally means one of two things: Either you're a World War II aviation buff seeking the home of Col. Paul Tibbets's 509th Composite Bomb Group--the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan--or you're a land-speed junkie making a pilgrimage to the mecca of flat-out velocity, the neighboring Bonneville Salt Flats.

Volvo, however, is planning to set a record of more than 165 mph in Mean Green at the airfield itself. The truck holds records in the standing 500 meter, the standing kilometer and the flying kilometer. But given that the diesel-electric projectile uses a North American-spec VN cab as a starting point, isn't it about time the hybrid machine set some records using non-Canadian units of measure?

In the meantime, while you're waiting for the April 27 record attempt to draw closer, why not check out the above video of Ovebrink racing a Ferrari 360 Spider?